The Value Of Your Camera's Custom Settings Feature

Not So Majestic!  A Bald Eagle's head and tail don't turn fully white until it
reaches adulthood.  That is about at the 5 year mark, but can vary.  I estimate
this eagle to be about 3 years old.  (click to enlarge)

I've written about this topic before but I feel it is worth presenting again since the improvements, options and features of our digital cameras have improved greatly over the past few years.

If your digital camera has them, I would recommend you not ignore the efficiency and speed of custom settings banks.  By custom settings banks I'm referring to those designated as C1, C2, C3, etc. or U1, U2, U3 on other camera brands.  By invoking pre-programmed custom setting banks, you can instantly change a wide variety of menu settings in an instant.  I ignored them for a long time and now use them extensively.  At the very least, take a look into what they can do for you, and give them some consideration.

That said, if you only photograph one type of subject and have no desire or no need to change a large number of settings, you may not need to utilize your cameras ability to set a wide variety of settings instantaneously. If you do, the feature can be helpful.

There are a variety of photographic situations that you may encounter or use cases that may make using the changing of several settings simultaneously worthwhile.

The first is you may practice different types of photography engaging different settings for each.  For example (your settings will obviously vary):

1)  Portrait  (Eye detection AF, AF-S, aperture priority, shallow DOF, lower contrast, low ISO, single advance, etc.)

2)  Travel  (aperture priority, boosted colors and contrast, Auto ISO, etc.)

3)  Landscape (Manual focus, Velvia or Vivid, low ISO, single advance, aperture priority, 2 sec. delay, etc.)

4)  Macro (focus stacking engaged, low ISO, standard picture style, aperture priority, 2 second delay, insect detection AF, etc.)

5)  Sports (AF-C, subject/eye detection AF, Shutter priority or manual, high ISO, natural film style, high speed advance, etc.)

6)  Street (black and white, AF-C, face/eye section AF, high contrast, etc.)

6)  Fully Automatic (for handing someone your camera and asking them to take your photo)

7)  JPEG or JPEG + raw or just raw file format; if you like to use a variety of file formats

8)  For Nikon users shooting full frame then quickly changing settings for their DX mode for a longer reach with your telephoto lens

A second use case would be if you like to use different looks for your photographs for different types of subject matter through changing film styles, picture controls or in Fujifilm's case, film simulations.  Here are some examples:

1)  Vivid or Velvia

2)  Neutral or Pro Neg Std. 

3)  Classic Chrome, Nostalgic Negative or recipe of your own to replicate film of the 40s, 50s and 60s

4)  Eterna or Flat to best replicate what you will get with a raw file

5)  Portrait or People

6)  Black and White without or with a variety of ‘filters’

7)  Landscape of Provia

Each of those styles or simulations can be accompanied by their own specific settings.  You don’t have to keep the default settings.

A third use case is if you are a monochrome photographer, you have the opportunity to program several different 'looks' for your images as well.  Some examples are:

1)  Black and White or Acros (full dynamic range)

2)  Black and White or Acros (high contrast; inky black shadows)

3)  Black and White (with a yellow, orange, red or green filter depending upon subject)

4)  Black and White (adding simulated grain)

5)  Any combination of the above

A fourth use case for banks of settings could be used for a number of variations for one genre of photography.  For example, on my Fujifilm X-H2S, I have a bank with specific settings for each of the following variations of bird photography, all with bird subject detect engaged:

1)  birds perched on the ground with relatively little movement (aperture priority, AF-S, 5 fps, Pro Neg Std., etc.)

2)  birds-in-flight (shutter priority; 1/2000th sec., Auto ISO, 20fps, AF-C, etc.)

3)  birds-in-flight with Pre-Shot (or Pro Capture); same settings as above but with Pre-Shot enabled which gives me 20 frames continuously buffering upon half-press of the shutter.

As you can see, utilizing the ability to set and change a wide variety of camera settings with a single twist of a dial can be beneficial in a wide variety of ways for a wide variety of types of photography you may enjoy.  I’m sure there are other use cases as well.

As I mentioned, I used to ignore this feature until I realized that changing from my normal general photography settings (walk around settings) to completely different settings, when unexpectedly encountering a Bald Eagle or wildlife or such, made much more sense than struggling to change all of my camera’s settings quickly but most of the time, unfortunately, missing a potential photograph.

Just a helpful thought.

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

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